The present application relates to a rotary-wing system with increased efficiency through manipulation of a boundary layer.
A propeller system is limited in effectiveness and power density by the maximum speed achievable at the blade tip without separation and the associated drag and vortex generation. Since the speed of the remainder of the propeller is limited by the tip speed, the overall efficiency of the propeller is thereby limited. Likewise, as the propeller forward speed changes relative to the surrounding fluid, the effective velocity and vector at the tip changes which further limits the rotational speed achievable without separation.